


no, i'm not a snack at all

by glimmeringhope



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24718234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glimmeringhope/pseuds/glimmeringhope
Summary: When Louis tears his gaze away though they land on what the boy in front of him managed to get out of his bag after all.It’s a bunch of bananas.Just that. Four fucking bananas, one them currently being peeled by its owner.or, an au about too small university cafeterias and unusual lunch choices.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 18
Kudos: 77





	no, i'm not a snack at all

**Author's Note:**

> Just once I wanted to finish what I start to write, so this short little thing happened. Based on my uni and the one time some guy there decided that a bunch of bananas were a total normal meal.
> 
> Thank you to [Alicia](https://lookslikefairytale.tumblr.com/) for pushing me to write every now and then, and reading over all my unpublished writing for years now.
> 
> Title is from Lizzo's "Juice".

The cafeteria is too small. This isn’t a big university but 200 seats for 2000 something students just isn’t enough.

Louis sighs exasperatedly. He looks around the room to find his mates, but all he sees are about 198 vaguely familiar faces and exactly two free chairs. However, he does then remember the few high tables behind the partition in one corner and sets off in that direction. They’re his last hope of snatching a table for himself after all.

Of course, he didn’t pay any mind to what time it is, and when he rounds the corner, the kids from the elementary school across campus are already scattered around the whole area, since it’s always reserved for them during lunchtime.

He sighs again and turns around, contemplating his choices, which are basically limited to sitting between the creepy weirdo he thinks is in the one class he didn’t go to in ages, or the cute weirdo he is sure is in some of his other classes. Which he also hasn’t attended in ages. He should think about his dedication towards this degree sometime soon.

Not now though, because he is currently making his way over to the free window seat opposite from Cute Weirdo, who stares absentmindedly out of the window. He doesn’t seem to notice Louis approaching, so Louis coughs a little awkwardly and then simply asks, “Hey, uhm… is this seat taken?”

The guy finally snaps out of his gaze with a startled look but then shakes his head and even gives Louis a small smile.

Louis sits down, stretches a little (there isn’t even room to do that properly, ugh) and realizes he didn’t get anything to eat on the way here. Getting up now only to stand in line for another half hour or so seems just dumb, though, so he simply sighs quietly and gets out his water bottle and phone. He’ll grab something to snack on his way home.

It’s after a few minutes of scrolling aimlessly through his Twitter timeline that he hears some rustling in front of him and looks up into green eyes. Really big and beautiful green eyes. Interesting. He mentally tucks that information away for future reference.

When he tears his gaze away from those eyes though they land on what the boy in front of him managed to get out of his bag after all.

It’s a bunch of bananas.

Just that. Four fucking bananas, one them currently being peeled by its owner.

Slowly, like the boy wants to treasure it and is a little extra careful.

It’s obscene, is what it is.

All Louis can do is stare. And the boy _doesn’t even seem to realise_ what he’s doing to him. Without a care in the world he pinches the remaining parts of the peel, drawing Louis’ undivided attention to his long, long fingers and-

He’s ripped out of these thoughts pretty abruptly, when almost half of the banana the boy was holding suddenly snaps off and drops onto the table, right in front of Louis.

“Oops,” the boy blushes but otherwise doesn’t make any move to pick up the banana-half. So, Louis decides in a split second to take matters into his own hands, grabs the banana and simply takes a bite. “Five second rule, right,” he smirks at the boy, who now seems to have resolved to the staring Louis did a few minutes prior.

A moment later he’s already regretting his decision, because the banana turns slippery between his warm fingers real fast and since he didn’t get any food he doesn’t have a plate or anywhere to put it that isn’t the table he just picked it up from. He starts looking around in his pockets for literally anything to help him with the mess in his hands but comes up empty handed. The movement does seem to do the trick and break the boy out of his daze though, cheeky smile back on his face and a packet of tissues in his outstretched hand.

“Oh god, thanks,” Louis laughs, shaking out several tissues so he can put the banana down on one of them and use another one to wipe his sticky fingers. Then he quickly eats the banana, so it won’t cause any more trouble.

“Hi,” he settles on saying after swallowing the last bites. “Sorry I stole your banana. Well, half of it anyway.”

“Oh, don’t forget the tissues there,” the boy points to the chaos between them, but Louis can see the hint of a smirk around his lips when he asks, “Are you at least gonna tell me your name in exchange for them, banana thief?” while unhurriedly peeling the second banana and grinning at Louis.

It should be illegal to be this endearing and seductive at the same time, Louis thinks.

“It’s Louis,” he answers the boy and simply grabs one of the other bananas. “And whose fruit am I currently continuing to steal?”

“Harry’s. Uh- I mean, my name’s Harry,” the boy – Harry – rumbles and blushes again. Louis could get used to that.

“So, Harry,” he says with a pointed look down to the fruit in the other boy’s hand, “What is it with you and bananas?”

He sounds obnoxiously flirty even to his own ears, but somehow – god knows why – Harry seems to be charmed anyway. Louis already knows he won’t be getting enough of that blush anytime soon.

“Well, for one, they’re healthy,” Harry begins slowly, drawing it out. “They’re also sweet,” he says with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and Louis thinks he already knows where this is going to go. “And I just really like the shape of them,” he finishes and then simply takes another bite of the one he’s still holding in his hand, looking up all innocently, as if he wasn’t doing all of this on purpose.

For a second all Louis can do is gape at the boy in front of him. Which is apparently enough of a reaction for Harry, because he takes Louis’ slightly open mouth as an invitation to shove the rest of the banana in his face.

Like it’s a _completely normal_ thing to do.

Sputtering, Louis tries to chew and swallow in a somewhat graceful way but judging from the smug face Harry is making in front of him, he doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job. The absurdity of the situation is slowly catching up with him though and when he finally downs the last bit of the banana, he can’t help the laugh bubbling out of him.

“That was a declaration of war, wasn’t it,” he tries to say in a serious manner through fits of laughter, but Harry isn’t doing much better.

“Well,” he says, still chuckling, “as much as I would love to start a food war right here with you, I don’t think the kitchen staff would approve. I would know, I used to work in a bakery after school and some kids really did not care about where their crumbles went when they ate. At all.”

“Oooooh, that’s so cool, did you have unlimited access to pastries? Muffins? Cupcakes?” Louis asks, food war already forgotten over his excitement. It could also be his grumbling stomach making itself known at the mention of all that deliciousness.

“I mean, I was allowed to take leftovers most of the time, but never during opening hours. Barbara – the owner – would have had a fit if she ever caught me doing that,” Harry says with a fond smile and Louis can’t help but smile along.

“That means you can bake though, right?” he asks, a plan forming in his head and the smile on his face getting just a bit wider.

But Harry seems to hesitate at that.

“I kinda only ever worked the till?” he answers unsurely, but Louis can still see the laughter in his eyes, taking it as a sign to tease Harry just a tad more.

“No!” he gasps and clutches his hand to his heart, exclaiming, “and here I was, thinking I’ve finally met a person to supply me with baked goods at all times. I’m deeply disappointed, Harold.”

“I guess I did pick up a recipe or two in the kitchen back there, soooooo…” Harry trails off and looks at Louis expectantly.

And to Louis, there’s only one way to finish that sentence.

“So, obviously you’ll have to bring me some examples of that baking next time,” he says.

“Next time?” Harry asks, a hopeful tint to his voice now.

“Yeah, we should do this again soon. I need to see about your baking skills myself, obviously,” Louis winks. Then he takes a look at his watch and gets up reluctantly – his free time between courses isn’t that long after all.

“I’d like that a lot,” Harry says and is still smiling at him when Louis turns around just before going out the door.

He thinks he’ll probably start going to that particular, Harry-involving class more often from now on.

Years down the line Harry says in his wedding vows that he loves Louis because he has always been honest with him.

“That isn’t actually true, you know,” Louis whispers in Harry’s ear later, way after all the guests have gone home and the music’s turned off. “I did lie to you once,” he continues and snickers when Harry’s face twists into a confused frown.

“I was never sorry for stealing that banana.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, kudos and comments are of course very welcome.
> 
> You can find the tumblr post for this fic [here](https://glimmeringhope.tumblr.com/post/620914354241552384/no-im-not-a-snack-at-all-by-glimmeringhope) and give it a reblog, if you liked it!


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